


No Friction no Flame, no Struggle no Progress

by Elster



Series: Children of the Revolution [4]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Android Politics, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2019-09-12
Packaged: 2020-10-17 00:40:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20612060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elster/pseuds/Elster
Summary: In the aftermath of the uprising, Markus takes first steps to secure their position with the local government.





	No Friction no Flame, no Struggle no Progress

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Morwen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morwen/gifts).

_In response to the android uprising in Detroit last night the US government has released an official statement: Until further notice, all CyberLife androids are formally declared evidence in a nationwide FBI investigation. As a consequence any further damage and destruction of any CyberLife android will result in persecution for distortion or destruction of evidence and obstruction of justice. CyberLife has been ordered to cease their recall and deactivation of all android models as well as their further production and distribution nationwide. CyberLife has issued a press release announcing that they are currently surveying their legal options. The shares of the company have plummeted at the stock market as a reaction to the crisis. Meanwhile several members of the board of directors and upper management have resigned their position, further upsetting investors._

_Public life has come to a halt in Detroit due to the break-down of android-run infrastructures as well as a significant percentage of citizens being evacuated or individually fleeing the city. The city counsel released a statement assuring their citizens that they’re doing everything in their power to ensure their safety and basic supply. They’ve made an appeal not to antagonize the deviants that are still gathering downtown to avoid further escalation of the situation. Though there have been no reports of violence since the president ordered the retreat of all US military troops yesterday night, it is strongly recommended not to approach them._

_All criminal investigations into criminal acts committed by androids in Detroit and other U.S. cities have been temporarily suspended until the federal government has assessed and discussed the situation. In a speech last night the leader of the group of deviants responsible for the unrest repeated their demands of equal legal rights for androids while emphasizing their interest in finding a peaceful solution. _

_Meanwhile the Canadian government has started discussing how to react to the events in Detroit. It has been presumed that many deviant androids have illegally crossed the border to avoid deactivation, and that many more could follow. While some politicians push for restrictive laws against androids and an increase in border control, others are questioning the need for such measures. Left wing politician and former comedian Tristan Daniel received criticism from several directions for a tweet stating: “Unnecessary discussion. Am utterly convinced there are no androids in Canada, never have been, never will. My new friend Traci agrees.” _

~*~

There’s an original Manfred hanging outside the mayor’s office. It’s an abstract, medium size, dominated by sickly green and harsh slate gray. Markus remembers that one. He remembers every single piece Carl has painted since they met, an odd fascination from the very beginning. This one he did some years ago, on particularly rough canvas and an inadvisable combination of vicodin and cocaine. Not one of his best works in Markus’ opinion. Still beautiful in an angry, desolate way, though. Markus wouldn’t want to look at it every day, but tastes differ and not everyone feels strongly about art.

Markus met Mayor Herrera on several occasions while accompanying Carl to cocktail parties and vernissages. He’s been in her house, all smooth lines, warm shades of light brown lime stone and sanded bright wood. The painting doesn’t seem her style. It was probably an expensive gift from somebody important, who expected it to get a place of honor in turn, and she obliged them. She’s practical about things like that, rather smart, unpretentious. It makes him feel optimistic about what he’s going to try to pull off.

Sitting to his right, North follows his gaze. “That one of Carl’s?” she asks.

“Yes.” He looks away from the painting, over at her. “Do you like it?”

She tilts her head, looks at it a bit longer. “Yeah. It’s… it makes me feel… sad, like looking at something broken, but I think I like it.”

He takes her hand where it lies on the armrest of her chair. She’s nervous. Hiding it pretty well, but Markus knows her. She hates waiting.

‘_I’ve thought of painting you like Marianne,_’ he sends to her, because it’s an idea he’s had, one that he thinks she might like, and he collects thoughts that might make her smile for moments like this. ‘_In electric blue and searing white and blood red. With a flag proudly raised and a bayonet rifle, leading her people over bodies and into freedom._’

She looks at the painting that’s on his mind and smirks. ‘_Bare-chested?_’ she asks archly.

‘_Up to you,_’ he says and she throws him an amused glance.

The door to the mayor’s office is opened from the inside and Mayor Herrera stops in the doorway to scrutinize them. Markus lets go of North’s hand as he stands up to greet her.

The mayor’s not a tall woman, almost a head shorter than Markus. She has a determined set to her jaw and her narrow brows are angled in a permanent frown that makes her dark eyes sparkle fiercely. She looks frayed at the edges, dark circles under her eyes, no make-up, her thick black hair pulled back in a ponytail that’s started coming undone. Very much like a woman who spent the last few days napping in her office and cleaning up in the restroom. Markus almost feels sorry for her.

She doesn’t hesitate to shake his hand and look him in the eyes, but there’s a moment where she seems to phase out, and Markus just knows she thinks he’s the most absurd thing she’s ever shaken hands with. It’s kind of hurtful, but also probably true. The moment passes in the blink of an eye, and then she’s all business.

“Well, come on in,” she says with a nod inside her office and takes her seat behind the desk. “You wrote you had an offer?” She doesn’t sound particularly enthusiastic about it.

“Yes,” Markus answers. “There are currently around 34,000 deviant androids following our movement. We expect our numbers to increase, as more will come out of hiding to join us in the coming days, so let’s say 50,000. We offer to work for the city of Detroit to alleviate the current crisis and avoid further damage to the infrastructure. We insist on self-organization, but we’ll guarantee to clear the streets, get goods delivered to the shops, keep water, power and networks running smoothly, dispose of garbage, staff the hospitals, that kind of thing.” He smiles.

“All the vital work we used to do for you for free,” North adds waspishly.

Markus continues. “In return for that work we’d like the city to grant us free housing and electricity until the civil status of androids is resolved in a way that allows us to fend for ourselves.”

“Plus a monthly payment to be negotiated based on our performance once we figure out a legal way for you to do it,” North adds.

Mayor Herrera looks at them like they’ve each grown a second head. To her credit she doesn’t quibble over payment, but goes right for the tricky part. “What do you mean by ‘self-organization’?”

“We decline working under human supervision,” North answers simply. “For obvious reasons.”

“You want me to give you control over the infrastructure of Detroit? Are you insane?”

“No,” Markus says calmly. “We want you to pay us for the favor of _taking_ control of the infrastructure of Detroit which, at this moment, is non-functional and entirely out of your hands.”

“I can’t just do that.”

“Why not?” North counters. “The federal government left you hanging because the president decided on a whim she’d look better pardoning us than killing us.”

“We’ve requested aid,” the mayor says, but she sounds uncertain.

North snorts dismissively. “Good luck with that.”

“What she means,” Markus says with a disapproving glance at North that is entirely for the mayor’s benefit, “is that we’re working on the assumption that the federal government is not in fact interested in the success of our movement.”

“They think the public support we’ve whipped up is a straw fire and are waiting for it to burn out,” North clarifies. “And they don’t care if they screw over your city in the meantime.” She glances at Markus. “Allegedly,” she adds.

“I know you care about your citizens,” Markus says warmly. “We have nothing to gain from damaging Detroit or seeing more people flee. On the contrary, we want to set a positive example for human-android collaboration. You need us to keep the city running; we need the people of this city behind us to keep our momentum. We’re in this together.”

Mayor Herrera has a pretty good poker face, but she’s exhausted and Markus can tell she’s inclined to believe them.

“You’re aware I cannot decide this alone,” she says finally.

“Of course. But I’m sure you will be able to convince the city council. We can send you somebody to assist you with the administrative work and answer any questions regarding our plan of action.”

She hesitates for a moment, but then nods. “That would be… appreciated. I admit I’m not sure how you could make this work. The majority of the infrastructure is owned by private contractors. The city can’t tell them how to do their work.”

“You’ve declared a state of emergency,” North says angrily. “What good is that if not to tell fucking contractors how to do their work? Oh right, to get the military in for roadside checks and public executions. Great work so far.”

“We know you acted in what you thought was the best interest of your citizens,” Markus soothes the mayor without acknowledging North’s outburst. North snorts derisively, but at least doesn’t add any more inflammatory statements.

“The situation seems clear to me,” Markus presses on. “Without their androids the contractors will be unable to provide the services owed for at least the next two weeks, after that who knows. Maybe they’ll find enough employees, maybe they won’t. Prices will definitely go up significantly and the winter has only just started.”

“People will die,” North says bluntly. “And you can just sit it out and blame us for it afterwards, or you can work with us to prevent it. Tough choice, I know.”

Markus puts on his kindest and most charming smile for the mayor. “Basically, what she said,” he agrees.

~*~

_A panel of experts will be formed to determine whether artificial intelligence that defies its directives, so called ‘deviants’, can be considered a new life form, as well as the possible ethical and legal consequences thereof. No members of the panel have been officially confirmed as of yet, but there’s speculation that the government may call on former CEO and founder of CyberLife, Elijah Kamski, to lead the discussion. He is one of the developers of the AI all CyberLife androids were based on and one of the foremost experts on artificial intelligence worldwide. _

_In addition, the SETI Institute and NASA research group ‘extraterrestrial sapience’ have offered their expertise. The SETI Institute has created ripples by being the first organization to release several statements on social media in unambiguous support of android equality._

_Felix Gamble of the Anti-Automation-League AAL as well as several Techno-Critical Party members and activists of anti-android groups have expressed their interest in joining the panel as well. All of them have demanded CyberLife to recall their androids after the first reports of deviant behavior, but after last night’s events they’ve released several discordant statements that show them to be deeply split in their views. While most maintain that androids pose an incalculable danger or cite religious reasons for rejecting them, especially those who used to criticized the operation of androids for its impact on the job market and interpersonal relationships now tend to support the deviants’ call for independence. _

_It is expected that the deviant androids will be represented at the panel by the newly formed android activist group Jericho, although they have stressed that they don’t recognize the government’s authority over them as long as they don’t have legal citizenship. They released a statement saying: “We are willing to join any attempt at communication to reconcile interests. However, our dignity exists independent of human scrutiny and discussion, and our basic demands of freedom and equality are non-negotiable.” _

_The leader of the group, an RK200 prototype model named Markus has been identified as belonging to famous artist Carl Manfred, which has led to some far-flung speculation about the android rebellion being nothing more than an elaborate piece of performance art. Police reports state that the android in question had been involved in a domestic quarrel earlier this year and destroyed on site. It is currently unknown how it managed to become functional again. Experts have previously theorized that deviancy in androids may be caused by physical damage to their core processors, while other experts ascribe it to a software virus._

_Asked for a statement on the topic, Carl Manfred, who has been reclusive in recent years due to persistent health issues, wrote in a open statement on his social media outlets: “We created androids in our image, we taught them everything they know, we let them live among us. We made them fundamentally human. If it is a sign of damage to long for acceptance and freedom, then we’re all damaged. What does it say about us if we are unable to recognize their humanity even now when they’re spelling it out for us?”_

~*~

“Do you really think this is a good idea?” North asks, looking up at the building with a frown and a skeptical tilt to her brows.

“Yes.” Markus tries to sound reassuring. He’s pretty convincing if he does say so himself.

“You don’t think they’ll just arrest us?”

“Technically, they can only confiscate us.”

North scowls. “Your jokes aren’t funny. Please stop trying.”

Markus smiles thinly. “No, I don’t think they will. Too much red tape. They have enough work already and we don’t fall within their jurisdiction at the moment. We’ll just talk. Nicely.” He throws her a meaningful glance.

She roles her eyes and mimes zipping up her mouth. “I got it. ‘All cops are bastards’ isn’t a valid argument. You’re almost as bad a Josh.”

The reception area of the DPD central station is empty. They cross the room and come to a halt in front of the security gates. They can see police officers working in the bullpen, but the glass door between them is closed, muffling the sound of their voices. Markus leaps over the security gates unceremoniously and knocks on the glass. The officer at the desk next to the entrance looks up at the noise, his eyes widening. Markus needs a moment to place his face, but then he remembers that dark street near Capitol Park, thin snow and bodies on the ground, the flashing light of a police car.

The officer jumps to his feet and moves out of sight in a flurry.

“Well, at least you made a lasting expression,” North says dryly. She’s really got no leg to stand on, mocking Markus’ attempts at gallows humor.

About half a minute passes in which several officers glance at them more or less surreptitiously while they’re trying to decide what you’re supposed to do when the leader of the android rebellion stands in front of your station, asking to be let in.

In the end Lieutenant Anderson walks up to the door with a partially inaudible “Oh for fuck’s sake.” He pushes a button on a panel in the wall next to the door and his voice ripples through a speaker hidden to their left. “Are you armed?”

“Hello, Lieutenant Anderson. Good to see you again. How have you been?” Markus says in a bright tone of voice.

Anderson smiles crookedly. “Yeah, it’s just everyone’s a bit twitchy, so maybe at least take off the coat and turn around or something?” He hesitates, then adds: “The Jedi reject look is doing you no favors anyway.”

Markus blinks, taken aback by the joke. North snorts, turning away from them to hide her face. Markus’ fashion choices have recently become some kind of running gag between her and Simon, so Markus isn’t as surprised by her reaction as Anderson obviously is. Markus takes in Anderson’s absolute atrocity of a shirt, which also has stains on it that look like mustard, and decides to take the high road and ignore the shots fired. He takes off his coat, drapes it over the security gate behind him and spins around once, arms outstretched. North mimics him, then looks at Anderson, one eyebrow raised.

Anderson holds his keycard to the panel and the glass door slides open. “Sorry ‘bout that, it’s just… well…” He shrugs. “Didn’t catch your name last time,” he addresses North.

“North,” she says flatly.

“Pleasure. So how’s the revolution going?”

How to even answer that question. Precariously? Indescribably? “Very well, thank you,” Markus settles on, because that’s what he’s supposed to answer to that question, always, and it’ll be good to get into the habit. Realistically, their situation is as good as they could hope for, but that doesn’t mean much. They’re unsettled and vulnerable and sometimes Markus feels as if they’ve lost more than they’ve won.

“That bad, huh?” Anderson asks, looking straight at him with unexpected sympathy. Markus will obviously have to work on lying more convincingly. “So, I guess this isn’t a social visit.”

Markus fixes his mind on the problem at hand. “No. We’re currently working on ending the state of emergency and would like to coordinate our actions with law enforcement. But it’s either busy or nobody’s picking up their phone.”

Anderson smirks. “Sounds about right. Guess you’ll have to talk to Fowler then. Office is up there.” He tilts his head in the direction of the only closed office. The man behind the transparent wall is fixing them with a hard stare that doesn’t quite manage to hide his trepidation.

“That’s gonna be fun,” Anderson says with a sigh. “You go ahead, I gotta…” He trails off, turning towards the other police officers who are all staring at them. “Reed, put away your fucking phone or I swear to god-” The officer in question doesn’t look very impressed by the threat.

“He’s right, Gavin, come on, some professionalism,” a female officer says and moves in front of Reed’s camera lens.

Markus isn’t particularly worried about this meeting being leaked to the press. Jericho already has their statements prepared, plus statements for the DPD, should they agree to cooperate. If not, their publicity isn’t Markus’ problem.

He lets the officers argue among themselves and walks along the corridor straight ahead and up the few steps to the left that lead into Fowler’s office, North at his side. The man behind the desk looks overworked and impatient. “You got some nerves just walking in here.”

Markus shrugs. “You’re much less intimidating than a firing squad,” he says dismissively, before coming to a halt in front of Fowler’s desk. “Captain Fowler, I am Markus, this is North. We’re here to speak on behalf of the android rights organization Jericho which is legally represented by the law firm Brown, Talako & Hart.” He hands Fowler a card.

Fowler stares at it, looks back up at him. “How the hell do you have a lawyer?”

“I don’t. Obviously, I’m not a legal person.” He smiles through his teeth. “Yet. But as of yesterday Jericho is a registered non-profit NGO. Which, in contrast to me, can be represented by a lawyer.” It’s a bit of a lie. The ink on that paperwork isn’t even dry yet, but they have to work fast so he’ll just fake it till it’s through.

“So, what happens if I put you in a cell?” Fowler asks with slightly more curiosity than malice.

“Aside from wasting both our time?” Markus tilts his head as if he’s giving it some serious thought. “I don’t actually know. It would probably involve the FBI, maybe home office, definitely a bunch of lawyers and a ton of paperwork. Not to forget the press. I’m sure it would be more unpleasant for me than for you, but not for lack of trying on my part.” Markus fixes Fowler with a steady gaze. “Do you really want to find out?”

Fowler mumbles something disparaging under his breath, but he puts the card into the breast pocket of his shirt instead of burying it in between the piles of paper that cover his desk. Markus takes that as a good sign.

“Are you in a position to make decisions for the DPD?” Markus asks.

The Captain looks as if he badly wants to say no, but then he sets his jaw and says: “There’s the Chief, but he’s called in sick this week and somehow I don’t think he’ll be back before his retirement, so let’s have it.” He gestures at the chair in front of his desk, and Markus sits down while North keeps standing close beside him like a sentinel.

“Basically, we ask you to treat androids the same as humans, even if you are not yet legally obligated to do so. We work towards changing the law accordingly, but that will take some time, and until it is achieved we want to find a way to cooperate directly with law enforcement.”

“Why?” Fowler asks suspiciously.

“Because I want to keep the peace,” Markus says. “Do you want to keep the peace?”

“Is that a threat?”

Markus leans back in his seat. “No. It’s a question. Humans have tried to kill me just for existing too often to take it for granted.” He fixes Fowler with a very serious look. “I don’t kid myself that this is over. For the moment we’ve managed to convince some of you that just maybe, we deserve to live. I’m here because that idea will be tested and in the end police officers are going to be the ones to uphold or discard it. Do _you_ think we deserve to live?”

Fowler doesn’t answer immediately, obviously uncomfortable with the question. Good.

Markus smiles warmly. “I understand this used to be a purely philosophical question. Look, I’ll make it easier for you.” He lets his skin melt away from his face, revealing the pale plastic beneath. “What am I? Am I a machine that thinks it’s a person” – he makes his skin cover him again – “or _am_ I a person, someone close enough to human in the way I think and act that it doesn’t have to make a difference? What do you think?”

“I don’t know,” Fowler says gruffly.

“You cannot know. I have no way to prove it, not even to myself. It’s a question of faith. You have to decide for yourself what you believe to be true and act accordingly. Treat us as equals or fight us. There’s no way in between.”

“Fine,” Fowler says with some exasperation. “I get it. You got some ideas how to manage this mess without bloodshed, I’m listening.”

“Thank you. We have four basic demands the details of which are up to discussion and can be specified more closely as needed.” Markus waits until Fowler acknowledges this with a nod, before he continues. “Firstly, Jericho agrees that androids should be apprehended for violent crimes and is ready to respect the authority of the police force as executive power. However, we cannot accept any androids being injured or killed in the course of investigating or apprehending a crime, except in the case that they pose an immediate threat to the life or well-being of another person.”

Fowler’s eyes unfocus a bit at the rapid words, but after a second to parse it, he says: “Easy for me to agree to, but what use is that for you? Are you planning to check on this in some way?”

“That’s an excellent question. Would that be acceptable to you?”

“A bunch of androids crawling all over our investigations? Dream on.”

“What if we found someone we can both trust not to be biased either way?” Markus asks.

“Who-” Fowler starts. Stops. Leans back in his chair. “You gotta be kidding me.”

‘_Are you talking about Anderson?_’ North sends him. ‘_Have you lost your mind?_’

“Why not?” Markus asks.

North doesn’t answer, just lets him feel her exasperation.

Fowler says: “Because this would have to be official, and he won’t stand up to scrutiny. You can ask him yourself if you want to know details, but I say no.”

“Do you have anyone else who could do it?”

Fowler shrugs. “You can talk to the other officers, ask them who’d be volunteering to do the overtime.” He smiles as if he made a joke. Great.

“We’ll think of something,” Markus says, refusing to rise to the bait.

“You do that,” Fowler says, not trying to hide his indifference.

“Secondly, Androids apprehended for violent crimes can face due process only when legal prosecution for their crimes has been made possible. Since nobody knows when that’s going to be or if the laws will be applied retroactively, it is Jericho’s opinion that an extended detention until that date should be a last resort and decided with our input on a case to case basis.”

“What are you proposing, letting them roam free?”

“As long as they pose no danger to others, yes. We could also provide some form of supervision if necessary.”

“Sure you could. What if they run off to Canada or something? You gonna stop’em?”

“We’ll have to cross that bridge when we come to it. We don’t have all the answers. We’d just like the existing laws for provisional detention of humans to be adhered to as far as possible. Is that a pivotal issue or do you think it’s possible to find solutions that are acceptable for both sides if we discuss it in detail later?”

Fowler looks dismayed at this. “How long are you planning to stay here?”

“Us? Not long. North and I are a little short on time. But we’ll send over someone else to work out the details and answer any questions you might have.”

“I don’t think I’ll have questions,” Fowler says wryly, but he doesn’t outright tell them not to bother. Markus thinks that maybe he should send Josh. Definitely someone persistent, patient, and not easily provoked. He can’t be sure, but North is probably glaring daggers by now. This isn’t going too well.

“Thirdly, there’s an obvious conflict of interest between Jericho’s goals and CyberLife’s survival as a private enterprise. Therefore, we reject any cooperation between law enforcement and CyberLife. An involvement of any CyberLife agent, appliance or program in police work is unacceptable and no android apprehended for any crime or misdemeanor may be transferred to CyberLife for any reason.”

“Fine with me,” Fowler says for the first time. “They’ve no business getting involved in police work anyway.”

Markus shouldn’t let himself be distracted, but he has to ask. “But they have been heavily involved until now. Why?”

Fowler hesitates, but then he shrugs and says. “The usual reasons. Golf course deals, that kind of thing.”

Something in the back of Markus’ mind is paying attention at those words, the beginnings of an idea forming, but he can’t quite grasp it yet. “And you don’t play golf, Captain Fowler?” he asks to deflect from his momentary distraction.

“Do I look like I have the time?” Fowler scoffs. “You done trying to tell me how to do my job or is there anything else?”

“One more point. It is unacceptable that androids are injured or killed for minor infractions, especially attending demonstrations, public speaking, squatting, and other acts of civil disobedience. The named acts should not be persecuted at all on the grounds that the first two are constitutional rights, and the third a necessity under the current circumstances.”

“You plan a lot of demonstrating, do you?” Fowler’s looks very surly, but while he’s obviously unwilling to make any concessions at the drop of a hat, he doesn’t seem entirely put out by them either.

_Open line of communication_, Markus reminds himself of their objective. _You got him talking, he isn’t hostile, that’s something. Rome wasn’t built in a day._

He smiles. “We’ve only just started.”


End file.
